Le Pen visiting the U.K... >:(

[Michael Z]

Le Pen is so extreme that he attracts votes from both Fascists and Communists - he would not be anything close to a Republican... probably closer to a Larouche Democrat

Fortuyn, on the other hand, was murdered by an animal rights activist.  I think he was a great man - and though I am pro-immigration, I can understand the need to not want to change from values of tolerance and liberty to values of hate and fundamentalism.

Which, ironically, is precisely what Fortuyn would have achieved. Change Holland, a country of tolerance and liberty, into one of hate.

The vast majority of Muslims living in western Europe are decent, law-abiding citizens and they are, on the whole, welcome. To say fundamentalists represent Islam is like saying that the KKK represent christianity. It's a vast generalisation and, dare I say it, borderline racism.

[Michael Z]

The vast majority of Muslims living in western Europe are decent, law-abiding citizens and they are, on the whole, welcome. To say fundamentalists represent Islam is like saying that the KKK represent christianity. It's a vast generalisation and, dare I say it, borderline racism.

European Muslims ARE scary, and it isn't racism to say so. They are probably more radical and anti-semetic than the ones living in the middle east

It's still a generalisation. Throwing everyone into the same pot ignores European Muslims who do not follow a fundamentalist doctrine, and I've met plenty of Muslims here in London who don't.

[Michael Z]

some englishman tell me a little about the bnp, when you have the time.  I read a blurb in The Economist (well, why not?  after all, I'm a republican)  about them.  Seemed like an english version of Le Pen's organization.

Basically, yes. The BNP are a neo-nazi party and a continuation of the National Front of the 1970s. Their leader Nick Griffin is a recknowned Holocaust denier. As far as their membership is concerned, think sh**tkicking skinheads wearing suits in a desperate attempt to look 'respectable'. Unfortunately some of their tactics appear to pay off in parts of the north of England, if recent polls are anything to go by. They're still widely regarded as the extremist fringe party that they are, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't worry me, bearing in mind that most Germans treated the Nazi party as a joke in the mid-1920s.

[Michael Z]

some englishman tell me a little about the bnp, when you have the time.  I read a blurb in The Economist (well, why not?  after all, I'm a republican)  about them.  Seemed like an english version of Le Pen's organization.

Basically, yes. The BNP are a neo-nazi party and a continuation of the National Front of the 1970s. Their leader Nick Griffin is a recknowned Holocaust denier. As far as their membership is concerned, think sh**tkicking skinheads wearing suits in a desperate attempt to look 'respectable'. Unfortunately some of their tactics appear to pay off in parts of the north of England, if recent polls are anything to go by. They're still widely regarded as the extremist fringe party that they are, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't worry me, bearing in mind that most Germans treated the Nazi party as a joke in the mid-1920s.

well, here's what struck me.  apparently one of their defining characteristics is an anti-foreigner outlook.  so, isn't it a little contradictory to glorify a frenchman?  why not villify the bastard (because he's a foreigner -- a french one at that!) in order to be consistent?

I guess you could compare it to the Hitler-Mussolini axis.